


a pass in the night

by prowlish



Series: commissions [6]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: Canon Related, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-01
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-18 10:28:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4702667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prowlish/pseuds/prowlish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Directly after MTMTE #29. Trailcutter panics at the coffin's contents.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a pass in the night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CavalierConvoy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CavalierConvoy/gifts).



> commission for cavilierconvoy. thanks so much! I hope you enjoy, and sorry about your wait. ;-;

“A corpse?” Trailcutter repeated. Sure, he was sober now -- forcibly -- but that didn’t make this or the preceding moments any less confusing! 

“Again… what else should we expect to be in a coffin?” Megatron said. It sounded so reasonable when he used that tone! As if picking up a casket floating around in space was an everyday event and not a particularly disturbing omen! Many of the more superstitious felt the ship was cursed, and he was starting to see their point. Trailcutter hung back, even as Megatron peered into the open coffin and… “Huh.”

“‘Huh’?” Trailcutter repeated. “What’s ‘huh’? What kind of reaction is that?”

Megatron merely gazed over a large shoulder at him. “See for yourself,” he said, standing straight and taking a step away from the little pod.

Trailcutter gave him an apprehensive look, but curiosity eventually won over. He shuffled closer, giving Megatron one more cautious look before peeking over the lip of the coffin.

He gasped at what he saw.

“No… there’s no way,” he said, glancing up at Megatron as though seeking reassurance. Funny, that -- or it would be if he weren’t so horrified. Megatron only shrugged a shoulder. How could he be so nonchalant with Rodimus’s grey corpse laying inside the little pod! But it couldn’t be him, right? Rodimus was safely on the _Lost Light_ somewhere… hadn’t Trailcutter seen him? His new sobriety wasn’t lending any help to sifting through all the memories still swimming in too much engex.

“I’ll say,” Megatron agreed, and he continued saying something or another about Rodimus sulking, but his voice was faraway. All Trailcutter could focus on was that he couldn’t remember the last time he saw Rodimus. He only had a vague sense of having seen him, but who knew how reliable that was? He could have just imagined it!

Cold panic gripped his spark. Sure, Rodimus could be an aft, but he was still their captain, and he still cared!

Megatron was still trying to talk to him, a little more directed, but Trailcutter was lost, feeling his spark jolt and his fuel pump pound. A strange energy surged in him and he knew the “panic bubble” was welling up again. Frag! That’d really drain him! And then he’d be useless to help this situation!

Unhelpfully, that thought only made his panic rise until he felt he was choking on his vocalizer. Again he was vaguely aware of Megatron’s voice, a bass rumble on the edge of his awareness…

That was, until large hands grasped his helm. Practically boxed his audios! But it stunned him anyway, broke him out of the vicious cycle of his CPU. He sucked in an intake that felt like it lasted forever, but his optics focused on Megatron.

“Listen,” Megatron said, and his words got through this time. “This is some sort of trick. Rodimus is in his habsuite, still pouting about my assignment to this ship.”

Something about this rang true, but… Trailcutter clung to this thread of hope from Megatron. “You’re sure?” he said. “You’ve seen him?”

Megatron paused a moment longer than Trailcutter was comfortable with. But then his hands moved down to clasp his shoulders. “I talked to him a little over an hour ago. Trust me, he’s fine.”

Trust him. It was almost a funny thought, and yet Trailcutter couldn’t deny how comforting his touch was. His mind brought back a few minutes earlier, when Megatron had had his arm around his shoulder… he’d been a little disoriented, and shocked at his sudden promotion, but -- oh slag, what was he thinking! 

He had to stop before his whole frame flushed up. 

Trailcutter swallowed and nodded his helm. “Alright,” he said. “Uh… thanks.”

Megatron quirked an optic ridge. “I know I just gave you a serious job, but what a solemn face you adopted!” Trailcutter couldn’t help but grin -- was Megatron actually teasing him? _Megatron?_ And at that, the larger mech patted him on the back and flashed another quick smile. Frag. That wasn’t helping. “No more panic bubble?”

Trailcutter could only nod, not trusting his voice in the moment. 

“Excellent.” Megatron tilted his helm. “You know, I will probably have to call Rodimus down here for this…” The slight change in tone displayed how little he wanted to do that. Still, he went on: “Do you want to stay and see him? To be certain?”

Trailcutter blinked behind his visor. That was a generous offer… and one he hadn’t expected! Perhaps he looked a little slack-jawed, but! “Really?” Then he shook his helm. “I mean, no, it’s okay -- just. It’d be weird, me hanging around here, wouldn’t it?”

Megatron raised his optic ridges. “Weird?” he repeated. “To have the new security director at this scene?”

Oh. Right. “...That’ll take some getting used to,” he muttered. That earned a chuckle from Megatron as he squeezed Trailcutter’s shoulder, giving his tanks a little flip.

“Or…”

“Or?” Trailcutter prompted.

“I could escort you to your habsuite.” 

The offer was made plainly, and Megatron was still completely straight-faced, but… there was a glimmer in his optics that made Trailcutter certain that the implication he thought was there actually existed.

And Trailcutter found himself quite tempted. Sure, it felt kind of weird thinking of Megatron that way, and yet… not. It wasn’t _so_ strange. The mech was undeniably attractive, and certain unofficial publications on both sides of the war proved he wasn’t alone in the notion. This moment of kindness meant a lot to Trailcutter… enough to maybe look on Megatron in a different light, or start to.

Well, Trailcutter was sober now, but he could have other fun… right? He grinned a little. Much less subtle, but Megatron didn’t seem to mind. “That’d be great,” he finally answered.

Smirking, Megatron put his arm around Trailcutter’s shoulders again. “Let’s get going then,” he said, and Trailcutter enjoyed the extra rumble in Megatron’s tone as he steered them out of the medibay.

**Author's Note:**

> visit me on [@prowlish](https://twitter.com/prowlish) on twitter!! :)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [an exercise in trust](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5924110) by [prowlish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/prowlish/pseuds/prowlish)




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